Museum curator Dr Hew Kuan Yau said visitors would gain fresh insight into the cultural aspects of the countries.

Japanese comics shown here provide a good example of the link between comics and society.

They are filled with impossible heroes such as Ultraman and the Masked Rider.

“The country is prone to earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis,” said Dr Hew.

“You can’t be angry at disasters but you can depict them as monsters in comics and create superheroes to inspire the people to overcome them.”

The China section is quite enlightening. After decades of strict political dictation, comic book artists are now more or less free to express themselves and present-day China comics are mostly about romance! Read more: The Star